1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to encrypting storage devices and more specifically to in-place encryption of a storage device in a computer while the user continues to use the computer.
2. Introduction
As storage devices increase in capacity and ubiquity, many users and organizations naturally have focused on securing stored data. Some threats that users may desire to secure data against include identity theft, corporate espionage, invasion of privacy, hacking, and so on. Data stored on storage devices are vulnerable to theft of the physical storage device as well as unauthorized access via a network-based attack. Corporations are typically concerned about securing confidential user data or trade secrets, while individual users are typically concerned about unintentional leaks of personal information, such as bank account information, personal data, and so forth.
One approach to secure data is encryption. Encryption does not prevent theft of the physical storage device, but renders data stored on the physical storage device useless without the encryption password. Many commercial, integrated, and open source encryption options exist in the market today, such as TrueCrypt, FreeOTFE, and CrossCrypt. The largest barrier to adoption for such encryption, especially for more secure full-disk encryption, is the time required for and inconvenience associated with encrypting an unencrypted drive. Depending on the size of the storage device, the processor speed, and the encryption algorithm, a personal computer can take up to 8 hours or more to encrypt the drive. During this time, the user is unable to use the computer for other computing tasks. For example, one online tutorial for TrueCrypt (Randy Jensen, Using trueCrypt to Encrypt Your Entire Hard Drive (April 28, 2008)sums up the current state of encrypting storage devices by saying the following: “Simply click the ‘Encrypt’ button and depending on your wipe mode and your encryption algorithms, go have a cup of coffee or go to sleep and let it run overnight.” Accordingly, many users feel the need to encrypt their storage devices, but fail to do so because of the time and hassle associated with encrypting a storage device.